The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1887-10-12
AN UNGR CUR.

charges published in the St. Paul Dispatch
of Friday made against the present prison
officials in regard to our food, etc. by Geo.
Lautenschlager. who was discharged from
here last Thursday. They bear on their
face the imprint of falsehOod, and we are
surprised that any journal which lays
claim to responsibility should have pub
lshed them without first ascertaning
whether they had any foundation. There
have been several other prisoners discharged
during the past week beside Lauten-
schlager and his clique, and If the griev-
ances of which he complains had any exist
ence in fact, is the Dispatch so blind as
not to see that he would not have been sup
ported in his charges? But it would be an
Injustice to ourselves as well as the officers
of the prison to allow such infamous lies to
go uncontradicted.
In regard to the insufficency of food and
its poor quality, the statements OF Lauten-
schlager are tissue OF falsehoOdS from first
to last and do not accord with his repeated
statements to different cOnvicts THAT a
man could LIVE here now," whereas he
only ''eXisted'' under the former admins
tratiOn. We have on several occasions
had butter that was a little ''Off, but only
for a few days at time; but we venture to
state that we have averaged better in that
particular article of food than three-fourths
OF the bOarders at So. SO and $500 a week
boarding houses in any city in the United
States, and we have NEVER had rotten ole
margarine dealt out to us since the adven:
of the present management, which we did
for months at time under Warden Reeds
administration. We would like to ask the
Dispatch man if Mr.. Lautenschlager looked
like ''starved' man when he presented
himrelf and his alleged grievances tor pub
lie inspection? We have only this to say
in respect to our food, that the hash we
now get is the POOREST, whereas it was
the BEST dish we got, with the exception of
pork and beans twice week, under the old
regime. The food in general is fully 100 per
cent better than before the advent of War
den StordOck, and if Lautenschlager had a
fair sample of our present diet, what must
it have been under Warden Reed?
If the Dispatch or any other reputable
paper desires to learn the truth or falsity of
Lautenschlager's statements, let them get
up party of half dozen or more reliable
persons, and ''swOOp' down upon our
cuisine, unannOunced, any day at either
6:30 or 11:45 a. III. or 5:15 .. m. We will
guarantee them courteous reception, and
that they will be afforded every opportun-
ity Of inspecting our food for themselves.
Tie assertion that the reduction of the
cost of feeding the prisoners had been ac-
complished at the expense of the health of
the inmates caused us to look up the num-
Der of sick in hospital during 1886, which
we find to have been 70, and for the year
1887 up to date IS. In 1856 there were
five deaths-1 from pneumonia. 1 from
consumption. from brain fever. 1 from
syphilitic meningitis, and one from ''viO-
lence." So far the present year there has
been five deaths, from the following causes:
blood poisoning, 1; consumption, 2; mas
tufbatiOn, 1; ScrOfula, 1. At present there
are five patients in the hospital, none of
whom are confined to their bed, and the
general health of the inmates was never
better.
The other statements made by Lauten-
schlager that the inmates could not get a
bath and that Warden Stordock could not
be seen by cOnvicts, etc., are all as unqual-'